Inspired by the magic mirror from Snow White that tells the truth about characters, these templates can be used as frames for portraits. Heroes and villains are key feature of fairy tales. Characters tend to be represented in black and white terms, purely good or evil. This makes fairy tales a great vehicle for exploring character traits and discussing good and bad deeds. Children can decide who they think is the meanest (or kindest) fairy tale character and draw them. Depending on their age/developmental stage they can ‘show and tell’ their thoughts, perhaps scribed by an adult or write a few sentences to explain their choice. Some children may prefer to write in the frame instead of drawing. The pack contains two colour images (useful for discussion/display/modelling) and six black and white versions for drawings of the ‘kindest’ and ‘meanest’ of them all. There are variations on the wording, for example, the ‘biggest villain’ and ‘most heroic’. Did you know in the Disney film the evil queen says “Magic mirror” not “Mirror, mirror”? There is a magic mirror version too, in case you prefer this! This resource is part of a ‘Once upon a crime’ series by Teachers Telling Tales. The activity is one of 12 in a Fairy Tale Forensics unit of study presentation which includes a police line-up of characters that could be used as a stimulus for mirror portraits. The Mug Shots resource would also complement this activity. You can ‘bundle and save’ on this series.

A picture story book and linked activities for children who have to stay at home during school closures as a result of the corona virus pandemic. The story is based on the familiar tale of the three little pigs and uses humour while reinforcing important messages about keeping safe and healthy. Activities include matching, colouring, creating signs and writing ideas. All the resources including the story are free to download and share. Please take the time to add a review if you find them helpful and share your children’s work related to the story on the Teachers Telling Tales page.

A simple and fun assembly idea based on Little Red Riding Hood. Performed by a Year 1 class, easily adaptable.

This resource was created to celebrate #WorldSpaceWeek 2023 (October 4–10). Planet Anagrams / solar system spelling This fun activity sheet was created to celebrate #WorldSpaceWeek 2023 (October 4–10). It features cute and colourful clip art and invites students to solve the anagrams of the names of planets in our solar system and write them in order. A sneaky way to squeeze in some spelling! Check out the free Astronaut Spelling Activity pack featuring two levels and answer sheets. You may also like this fun Alien poem reading and drawing activity. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/the-alien-read-and-draw-12166304

These fun activity sheets were created to celebrate #WorldSpaceWeek 2023 (October 4–10). They feature cute and colourful clip art and invite students to make as many words as they can from the letters in ‘astronaut’. The simpler sheet encourages students to complete the countdown by finding ten words. A sneaky way to squeeze in some spelling! There are colour and ink-saving versions of activity and answer sheets. Also check out the Teachers Telling Tales free Planet Anagrams / solar system spelling activity. You may also like this fun Alien poem reading and drawing activity: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/the-alien-read-and-draw-12166304

The Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl have some good examples of figurative speech. This short presentation gives a few examples of idioms, for example: the cat’s pyjamas, he’s had his chips, up my street There are links to videos of the Revolting Rhymes on YouTube in the notes. Perfect as a follow up to reading The Revolting Rhymes or as part of a study of figurative language such as idioms. Check out the other Revolting Rhymes resources by Teachers Telling Tales with a focus on reading comprehension skills: Revolting Times and Revolting Crimes.

Jar and bottle templates, blank and with lines for Word Collector activities and display. Inspired by the short story in Eren by Simon P. Clark about a man who collected words, locking the ones he liked in special jars so that no-one could ever use them again. Ideas: A ‘jar’ for each student to put their words in. This is a good use for those plastic food and drink containers that collect in cupboards! Foil packaging (such as crisp packets) can be used to write words with a permanent marker, or use glitter glue for sparkle. Displayed in a dark corner with fairy lights this will look really special. Whenever a new word is found it can be added to the jar which then become a resource at creative writing time. Sensory jar creations. Add oil, water, glitter, cubes or Lego with letters on to build the words inside the jar. A Word Collection notebook to add to and refer to. A display of The Greatest Words. Each student adds their favourite word to a jar (2D or 3D) on the shelf. See https://teacherstellingtales.com/word-collectors/ for more.

Pirate anagrams are a great way to introduce or reinforce topic vocabulary. This worksheet has picture clues alongside the mixed up letters and a space to write the word correctly. It can be kept to refer to when completing writing tasks to assist with spelling. Also useful as an activity for early finishers. A greyscale version is included for ink saving or for those who like to colour in their work. The worksheet can be downloaded on its own or as part of a pirates pack, check out the other pirate themed resources by Teachers Telling Tales.

An activity for learning about fairy tales and famous quotes from well known characters. Can children read the quote and match it to the correct character? 2 A4 sheets with 8 characters and corresponding quotes. Can be enlarged and used for teacher modelling or group/class activity. This activity is also useful as a demonstration of how well students know fairy tales, an adult can support with reading. This resource complements the ‘Once Said in a Fairytale’ collection available in the Teachers Telling Tales tes shop.

Writing and drawing frames for evidence collecting at the scene of a crime! Great for role play or building a case in a crime scenario. Contains a model for students to use as inspiration / guidance, label and two sizes of bags. You can, of course, use real bags and add the printed labels, especially if using real objects as evidence. This resource is part of the ‘Once upon a crime’ series by Teachers Telling Tales. It is designed for one of twelve activities featured in a Fairy Tale Forensics presentation. It can be a one-off lesson or an introduction to the Special Agent Investigation Board project. The police and Fairytale Bureau of Investigation (FBI) badges and ID cards complement this resource. You can also ‘bundle and save’ on this series.

These badge and photo ID card templates will help students get in role as a police officer of the Fairy Tale Police Department (FTPD), or a special agent of Fairytale Investigation Bureau (FBI)! Great for role play and drama activities. The ID cards have frames for drawing a self portrait (photo) and writing names / job titles. Colour and greyscale versions included. This resource is part of the ‘Once upon a Crime’ series by Teachers Telling Tales. It is designed for Collecting Evidence and Special Agent Investigation Board activities, two of twelve lessons featured in a Fairy Tale Forensics unit of study. You can bundle and save on these resources.

A fun fairy tale quiz in a presentation format. There are 3 rounds each with six questions. Who said it? Given a famous quote, guess the character and story. Complete the quote. Riddles - guess who, Fairytale Folk in their own words. This presentation can be used as a ‘knowledge harvest’ to assess prior knowledge at the start of a Fairy Tales topic and/or learning at the end of a unit of study. It can be a stimulus for discussion and a springboard for learning about characters, drama and speech in any kind of story. Of course, it can also be just for fun! Notes with suggested tiebreaker/advanced questions and discussion points are included. This presentation perfectly complements other Teachers Telling Tales ‘Once said in a Fairytale’ resources. It is useful as an introduction to the other games and activities in the series and can be purchased as part of a bundle.

Fairy tales and traditional tales are a great way to learn about speech in stories. Children love to join in with repeated phrases using different voices developing their language and drama skills. This Bingo game is a fun way to familiarise children with fairy tale characters and favourite quotes. Contains 4 colour-coded Bingo boards featuring characters from well-known fairy tales and sets of cards for different ways to play including character names, story titles and quotes. A resource guide with instructions is included in the pack. Ideal for younger children as boards have nine squares, including one ‘free’ space in the centre. Great for learning about fairy tales, traditional tales, speech, game playing and social skills. There are further ‘Once said in a fairytale’ resources available in the Teachers Telling Tales shop and this game pack can be purchased as part of a bundle.

20 favourite fairy tale character frames with speech bubbles and 6 dialogue frames with two characters. Single character frames can of course be linked with others to create conversation between different characters. Great for students to demonstrate their knowledge of well-known stories by retelling famous quotes. Also useful as creative writing activity through encouraging children to use their imagination to make up speech of their own. Completed frames can be coloured and used to create a class book or display. Differentiation: for younger/less able students an adult can scribe older/more able students can create dialogue, conversation or follow up with converting to text using speech marks. Further ‘Once said in a Fairytale’ resources are available in the Teachers Telling Tales tes shop and this item can also be purchased as part of a bundle.

A fun resource to familiarise children with fairytale characters and favourite quotes through a range of games using the dominoes (ideas and instructions included in the pack). 16 dominoes with a colourful character on one side and a quote on the other. Great for fairy tales or traditional tales units of study and learning about speech.

A fun way to familiarise children with favourite fairy tale characters and well known quotes. Contains 4 colour-coded Bingo boards featuring characters from well-known fairy tales and cards with quotes. Fairy tales are a wonderful means to learn about speech in stories. Children love to join in with repeated phrases using different voices. This game is a great way to introduce or consolidate this. The quote cards can also be used for other guessing games. Further ‘Once said in a Fairytale’ resources are available in the Teachers Telling Tales tes shop and this game can also be purchased as part of a bundle.

These card games are a fantastic way for children to become familiar with classic stories, characters and speech. 16 colourful fairy tale / traditional tale character cards and 16 corresponding quote cards to print and play. Games ideas and instructions are included. Through playing games students learn in a fun way and also practise their social skills.

The classic tale of Sam’s Sandwich is fantastic for engaging students as they eagerly await to discover which creature will be added with each sandwich ingredient. This pack contains resources to accompany the book, including word and picture cards for participation in read-alouds and retellings, a fill the gaps activity focussed on rhyming words (with two levels) and reading comprehension questions. Good for food and minibeasts topics. You may also like the Teachers Telling Tales minibeasts resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/minibeasts-big-bug-bundle-12340248 This pack contains two formats, PowerPoint and PDF.

These worksheets feature a selection of poems from Commotion in the Ocean and Rumble in the Jungle by Giles Andreae. Students are given the rhyming words to choose from to fill the gaps. There is space for drawing when the work is complete. There are greyscale (black and white) versions for saving on ink.

This pack features fifteen adorable monsters to describe, compare and sort. They come in four colours with carefully selected similarities and differences, perfect for Guess Who games to develop observation, concentration and vocabulary skills. Use the quiz as a model for describing, for example, I am pink, I have three sharp teeth, I have horns. The presentation can be used on screen / interactive whiteboard and there are PDF files for poster / cards. Ideas and instructions for games along with photograph illustrations are included. For more monster-themed literacy and numeracy resources, check out the Teacher Telling Tales shop.